@Anonymous wrote:
@velvetfinch wrote:
I think the most unsettling part of this thing is the fact that we will lose the the ability to set a psychologically appealing price point for US buyers (the vast majority of buyers) Since prices will fluctuate constantly based on the CAD/USD conversion, prices will end up looking 'messy' and 'unappealing' to US buyers. [...] consider seeing something with a price of $13.17 vs. a price of $12.99. Which one looks better? There is a very clear correlation between price points and purchasing, it is basic Selling 101.
That is a valid retail pricing point of view, but it is far less applicable in the context of a competitive online marketplace where your listings appear adjacent to others, in price competition. On eBay, the best price is usually the lowest price even if it ends in .17
I've just slogged through 44 pages of this thread, and although there are misunderstandings by sellers as to the downsides of listing in $Cdn, this isn't one of them. Rodney's reply does not address the crux of the issue. Fluctuation in price display on .com is my biggest worry (and, frankly, source of anger), but for a slightly different reason than 'velvetfinch'.
I am speaking as a seller with several years on eBay, listing exclusively in $US on .ca (and more recently .com as well), selling consistently over 90% to US customers, and with 100% US competitors. Although my volume is fairly low, I regularly sell items in the $100 to $300 US price range. Anyone with any experience in marketing knows that price point, and staying on top of competitors' pricing, is absolutely key. It's critical for Canadians whose main competitors are U.S. sellers.
What Rodney's answer doesn't consider is that, if you research your U.S. competitors (and honestly, which of us doesn't have U.S. competitors, or Canadian competitors who list in $US?), and decide on a competitive price point for a product, you want that price to remain fixed until you choose to change it, not until fluctuations in your currency change the way it's displayed. This is called control over your business.
So if you decide today that US$29.95 is a better price than your closest competitor's price of US$32.00, and you list in $US, you don't have to monitor or change that pricing until it becomes necessary to do so for your own reasons. The price remains at US$29.95 to your US buyers until you purposefully alter it. If that price (plus a great shipping price, or free shipping), puts you at the top of the "best price" display on eBay, you stay there until someone else comes along with a better price, at which time you can re-set your price to stay on top.
On the other hand, if you list the same item in equivalent $Cdn, at say $37.00 (using a 1.25 conversion rate), it may be shown today on .com as $29.95, but what about next week, or even tomorrow? If the Canadian dollar continues to rise, so does your converted price. What does that say to a buyer who puts the item on his/her watch list, and goes back to purchase later? Price hike -- and a very arbitrary looking price hike at that. Remember, too, that the conversion price hike will also apply to your stated shipping cost.
If the Cdn dollar falls, your prices may look like more of a bargain from week to week for US buyers, but the disconcerting yo-yo effect of prices bouncing up and down may not engender your customers' confidence in you.
Now the issue of what the actual price looks like may seem irrelevant to Rodney, but marketing studies have consistently shown that displayed price does matter. For example, regardless of whether, let's say $29.87 is actually lower than, say, $29.95, a "jumbled-up" or less psychologically familiar number is going to be more complicated for the buyer to digest quickly, especially when that buyer is scanning quickly down a list.
This may be even more true if a U.S. buyer is expecting to see common US dollar price points, or if the price looks "foreign" because it's been converted from another currency.
The other serious, related concerns with regard to listing in $Cdn and selling mainly to U.S. buyers are:
1) Best Offer -- I've use Best Offer a lot, with great success. However, I'm certain this will cause trouble if I'm listing in $Cdn. My US buyers may find it difficult to calculate an offer based on a $Cdn listing (while accounting for shipping on top of the offered price), especially if the displayed $US equivalent is fluctuating from day to day. On an item listed for over $200 Cdn, that fluctuation could be significant. So far, being able to list Best Offer in $US has kept calculations simple for both me and my buyers.
2) Double invoicing -- This is a necessary evil if a buyer purchases a number of items at a time that are in two different currencies ($US and $Cdn). Sending two separate invoices makes no difference to me, but it's an inconvenience and complication that may confuse or irritate some buyers, especially those who are new to eBay or relatively unsophisticated in terms of international buying and the realities of currency conversions.
3) Buyer conversion fees - I am concerned that my mainly U.S. buyers will be subject to conversion fees when buying my items that are listed in $Cdn. Sooner or later, no doubt at least some of those buyers will notice the extra charges, and may either complain after the fact, or expect lower prices to compensate.
In summary, these are not minor considerations for those of us Canadian sellers whose primary market is in the U.S. Any seller who currently sells mainly to the U.S. should consider these issues before switching to $Cdn.
I've accepted that the switch to $Cdn on .ca is a fait accompli and that all I can do is try to survive it. However, without providing access to the data (and the statistical methods and sampling base) behind eBay's decision-making in this regard, there is absolutely no way to know whether the change is a sound decision for the reasons eBay claims it is.
Actually I strongly suspect that all the emphasis on "studies" and "focus groups" is smoke and mirrors to placate sellers and obscure the reality that this is essentially a cost-saving move for eBay rather than a means of helping Canadian sellers. Seen from the perspective of long-term cutting of costs, it makes far more sense to put a whole segment of sellers through the wrenching and deeply upsetting process of completely re-tooling their businesses.
The truth is that fewer choices and reduced control over one's own business can only be a disadvantage for sellers. The upside for eBay however is that many, many Canadian sellers will migrate over to .com as a result of this change, which will no doubt simplify eBay's operations in the longer run.
Perhaps if Rodney or Raphael ever return to this thread they can explain why it is that eBay has never adopted $US as the sole listing currency across all its sites. Most people outside the United States understand very well the value of their country's currency in relation to the U.S. dollar. Why the need for the complication of several currencies in the first place?
Q~~_7.JPG "rainbow71113"){kind=avatar}
